Local activists joined with Arizona’s Tohono O’odham Tribe members to protest the destruction of a Tribal burial site. The protestors claimed that the sites were destroyed during the state’s border wall construction. The state’s customs and border patrol have disputed the claim, saying that the area in question was surveyed by independent environmental monitors prior to the start of construction. The area was subjected to explosive demolition.

“I feel really disrespected, and my elders are disrespected too because they’re buried there,” said Tohono O’odham Tribe member Aundre Cipriano.

At the same time, the Indigenous Kumeyaay people staged a protest on recently as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) positioned explosives along the planned border wall between California and Mexico. Like Arizona, CBP has denied that the planned construction site has any cultural significance.

Tribal members liken the destruction of burial sites to going into Arlington Cemetery and setting off explosive devices.

To read more about the protests in Arizona, read the full article from AZFamily at: https://www.azfamily.com/news/arizona-native-american-tribe-protests-trumps-border-wall/article_a3863434-506d-11ea-baff-6ba4b664c79a.html

To read more about the protests in California, read the full article at the Independent here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-border-wall-indigenous-tribes-confederate-statues-environment-a9596081.html